Hey, gang, I just reread what is probably the best book of early 20th Century (or possibly any era), "The Big Ivy," by James McCague, followed by one of the books I checked out of the school library when I was a teenager, "Jeff Roberts, Railroader," by Edward Ford.
I found three such books when I was in 8th or 9th Grade, which says a lot for the Waukesha Junior/Senior high school system. ROBERTS is about a recent high school graduate in Baltimore, MD, soon after the war. He comes from a railroading family: his father worked his way up from freight brakeman, through conductor to his present job as Yardmaster, and his brother is a passenger brakeman as the story starts but soon works his way up to conductor. Jeff starts as a crew call boy, but of course, his ultimate goal is to be a freight engineer.
Another discovery was "Halloran's Hill," by Margaret Ann Hubbard, about a boy in turn of the century "Proctor Knott," on the Duluth Massabe & Northern, who has his eyes on the same prize. Both are good reading, though by no means accurate reference material, but give you some of the feeling and lore of old-time railroading.
Oddly enough, I remembered both these titles and managed to buy them from vendors online at abebooks, but there was a third book, of WWII vintage, about a youth in the mountains of Pennsylvania, working on a section crew of the PRR. If any of you remember that third book's title, I'd appreciate hearing from you.
I also have a good collection of grownup type railroad fiction, mostly of the Western ilk, but several of them are surprisingly good, Frank Spearman in particular, plus anohter title by James McCague, which I'll name if anyone is interested in basking in rugged steam railroading.
Deano
Hey, guys, I found several copies of the book I've been looking for for 10-15 years but didn't know the title, "The Long Trains Roll," (1944) by Stephen W. Meader, on abebooks.com and ordered the least expensive copy. It arrived today, an early Christmas present to myself. My thanks to those who clued me in to the title.
I'm gonna put aside the Agatha Christy mystery I was reading and see how much I remember from my last reading of the book when I was 14 or 15.
When I was a little shaver, some of my favorites were the "Ralph" series by Allen Chapman:
Ralph Of The Roundhouse, Ralph In The Switch Tower, Ralph On The Engine and Ralph On The Overland Express.
Of course there are others — All Aboard with E.M. Frimbo and several books by Freeman H. Hubbard are recommended reading.
Pretty exciting stuff for a young fella'
Ed
The Iassic Bell series is set in the 1900 to 1920 timeframe, and there is a lot of train travel in all the books - what can go faster and further than an express passenger train? Airplanes? Just a toy for short distances, they will never amount to anythng.
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
After reading about it for years, I finally tracked down an old copy of "Whispering Smith" by Frank Spearman. The prose style particularly the dialog is a bit overblown although maybe people really talked that way back then, but the yarn itself it pretty good and there is plenty of railroad action. Plus the good guys win which makes it suitable for impressionable youths such as ourselves.
The 1948 movie by contrast is a rather different story and does not feature trains as much as it could to suit me. I have never seen any of the silent movies made from the novel, but I bet their train scenes have equipment more authentic to the novel. Nor do I recall the TV series starring war hero Audey Murphy.
Dave Nelson
I agree with Fred and George that "The Wrecker" and "The Chase" are great reading and really keep you pulled into the story. But this is the style of Clive Cussler and why he is one of my favorite Authors. The imagination of his mind and the thoroughness of his research leave nothing to be desired.
His book (my first read from C.C.)which originally made me a supporter of his, was the "DRAGON" which is a second W.W. story in the North Pacific during the time of the bombing of Hiroshima and the loss of another plane that had a similar bomb on board that was lost at sea. They had to locate this ASAP as to prevent all manner of problems if it started to leak in the ocean. The tale he tells is truly spellbinding. I now have a multitude of his writings.
Here's to you Clive Cussler .
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)
I believe the book about the lad on a track gang is The Long Trains Roll by Stephen Meader, a terrific book. Based on a Pennsy-like RR and factor in a Ratzi Spy trying to blowup the mainline it was a great read! There are still plenty of original hardcovers out there, but it was reproed as a paperback in 2004.
Bob Keller
I remember reading and enjoying both "Long Trains Roll" and "Jeff Roberts, Railroader" when I was a pre-teen.
As for Cussler, I believe he ought to stick to nautical themes, where he seems to be more knowledgeable (although I'm hardly an expert to judge that). I've also read both of his railroad books and must respectfuly disagree with the earlier assessment. I consider his research into railroad history and practice as inadequate, leading to some improbable terminology and plot construction. YMMV.
Tom
The post WW2 motion picture "Union Pacific" was a fair attempt to keep the story focused on the subject of its title. Obviously, a movie soley about trains would not be a commercially viable Hollywood product, but that it dealt with trains and the men who built the first National railroads was enough for me!
Cedarwoodron
Halloran's Hill and The Long Trains Roll were both favorites of mine and still are. I recently decided to read them again and they were just as enjoyable 43 years later! Says something for those authors I guess.........or my senility?
James McCague wrote Fiddle Hill and The Big Ivy both of which are very enjoyable fiction.
Not quite fiction but enjoyable stories based on railroader's tales are a pair by Gilbert Lathrop. Rio Grande Glory Days and Little Engines & Big Men both based on the early D&RGW narrow gauge days are full of interesting railroading and humor. If you REALLY want to laugh you need to check out Fiddletown & Copperopolis by Carl Fallberg.
Roger Huber
Roger:
Fiddletown & Copperopolis for sure!
For something more factual, try SET UP RUNNING by John W. Orr, Pennsylvania State University Press, 2001.
Thanks, guys! That sounds like the one: the kid is actually captured by Nasty Nazis and left tied up in the wilds of the WV mountains. I only vaguely remember it, but I seem to remember he got loose, made himself a skirt of leaves, and made it back to the railroad in time to save the day. I'll look it up on abebooks.com, maybe add it to the shelf. Deano
Ahh, Fiddle Hill! I've had a copy of that since I was about 11 - Hell I'm in college and it's still on my desk in my apartment! I've often thought about trying to model the Pacific Midland...
I just wanted to second OT Dean's opinion about "Jeff Roberts, Railroader". I got my own copy and just finished it. I've read several books about railroading, but this went into a lot more detail about so many things, I learned a lot from it, while reading an entertaining story. My grandfather was an career-Engineer on the B&O so this was especially interesting to me, so clearly being about THAT railroad. Now, on to the next book...